Meghalaya Government setup “Expert Committee” to review State Reservation Policy

Following the suggestion put up by some political parties during the committee meeting held on May 31, an ‘Expert Committee’ has been setup by the government of Meghalaya on June 1 to review the State Reservation Policy. 

“The Chairperson and Members of the Committee shall consist of experts in Constitutional Law, Economics, Sociology, Demographic Studies and related fields which shall be notified by the Government of Meghalaya”, said the notification dated June 1st by the State Chief Secretary, D.P Wahlang, IAS. 

“The Expert Committee shall undertake a review of the State Reservation Policy by obtaining views from all stakeholders and by conducting field visits to all parts of the State”, it further stated.

It needs mention, the reconstituted committee meeting on Reservation and Roster system chaired by Cabinet Minister and Government spokesperson Dr M Ampareen Lyngdoh on May 31 was ‘fruitful’ but different opinions and suggestions were raised by different political parties. 

Attention by all political parties including the Voice of the People’s Party, Dr Lyngdoh said that different political parties have different opinions on the job reservation policy. However, the Minister has asked all parties to give official suggestions in black and white within 15 days on the matter. 

“We have requested all political parties to prepare their suggestions, omissions, cancellations, and deletions with substantial legal footing as we can always suggest whatever we want but we need to also make sure that we clear the legal scrutiny as the state political parties are mandated to review with the condition that there will be no obstruction or scrutiny that will result negatively for the government”, said Lyngdoh. 

“Some have asked for status quo, some have said review on these, these points but all those presentations were made verbally. Now, we cannot make a verbal presentation in front of the committee and expect the committee to understand what you mean by that,” added Lyngdoh. 

However, the Committee has decided to voice all the suggestions from the meeting today to the Chief Minister of the State.

Also read : Meghalaya: New committee on roster system holds first meeting, asks political parties to forward suggestions